During the off-season, a surprising controversy emerged concerning the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, and his wife Susie. The source of the controversy was the allegations made through a report from Business F1 Magazine about a conflict of interest involving Susie Wolff, who holds a prominent role as the F1 Academy Director. The FIA quickly launched a full-blown investigation into the matter but stopped the investigation shortly after. And now the Magazine that published the initial report is doubling down on their accusations with the release of their 2024 January issue as they predict Toto Wolff’s future at Mercedes.

According to the initial allegations, F1 team principals raised concerns regarding a potential conflict of interest between Susie Wolff and the Mercedes team. The F1 Academy, aimed at promoting female drivers in the sport, appointed Susie Wolff as its managing director. This move triggered concerns, especially as she reports directly to F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, categorizing her as a top F1 official.

Business F1 Magazine says the Toto Wolff FIA controversy was ‘obvious’

The primary concern raised by the teams revolved around the perceived sharing of crucial and undisclosed information between Susie Wolff and her husband, Toto Wolff, who leads the Mercedes team. According to the allegations, rival Team Principals had unofficially questioned the appropriateness of the couple holding their respective roles. These concerns stem from suspicions that Susie possesses insider information about various teams and F1 decisions, leading to allegations that Toto may have access to privileged information.

However, only 2 days after starting the compliance investigation into the Wolffs, FIA decided there was nothing worth investigating and that there were enough barriers in place to prevent the passing of any crucial information between F1 officials. But in the recent issue of the Business F1 Magazine, they doubled down on the allegations stating that they were merely following a rabbit hole that led them to that conclusion initially.

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Tom Rubython, the founder of Business F1 Magazine, in his editorial piece, described the conflict of interest as “obvious“ raising questions on “What do the Wolffs talk about at breakfast and later in bed?“ Tom also dubbed Toto and Susie’s defense of the allegations as “defending the indefensible.”

He suggests that Toto Wolff is just trying to cover up the weaknesses of the Mercedes team. Rubython noted as reported by Formula Passion, “Toto Wolff has a clear goal in all of this. He is a team principal in decline, who has lost his appeal. If the Mercedes team fails to perform well in 2024, he is out. And he knows it well. In fact, he’s already had his day, and he probably realizes it. Almost no team principal has been successful beyond the age of 50.”

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Mercedes’s rivals had a big hand to play in the reversal of the compliance investigation on the matter of conflict of interest concerning the Wolffs.

All F1 teams denied their role in raising concerns over Susie Wolff

Despite the whole allegation being based on the unofficial claims made by the other teams, all the teams (excluding Mercedes of course) issued nearly identical statements on social media, discrediting the premise of the investigation.

They clarified, “We can confirm that we have not made any complaint to the FIA regarding the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed between an F1 Team Principal and a member of FOM staff.” Red Bull boss was explicitly asked about the allegations. However, Christian Horner clarified that his team had not lodged any official complaint against Susie, Toto, or Mercedes to the FIA.

The F1 Academy, managed by Susie Wolff, which aims at supporting women in climbing the motorsport ladder to Formula 1, has garnered sponsorship commitments from all ten teams. Each team nominates a driver, and their livery will adorn a car during seven grand prix events next season. As such, each team stood in support of the work Susie Wolff is doing for young women.

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Do you think the new issue of the Business F1 Magazine will stir up even more controversy between Toto Wolff, Susie Wolff, and the FIA? Share your insights down below in the comments.